One annoying feature I noticed in Windows 8 is that when you install a new program, there are many useless links on the All Apps screen, not only to the program, but to all sorts of other files associated with that program.
For example, I installed a program on Windows 8, and when I go to the start screen, I see that it now contains many links to the program and help file, links to the site, etc. In previous versions of Windows, all of this was there too. but nicely hidden in a folder.
This is just one app! You can only imagine if you start installing a bunch of desktop applications. Of course, all Metro apps are listed on the left and only take up one slot! All problems are caused by desktop applications. But luckily there is a way to fix this. In some cases, you can just right-click and select Unpin From Beginning, but I noticed that this option is not available for all items. So here’s how to do it right.
Basically, there are two locations for all the shortcuts that appear on the All Apps screen:
1. C: ProgramData Microsoft Windows Start Menu Programs
and
2. C: Users aseem_000 AppData Roaming Microsoft Windows Start Menu Programs
Now, by default, you won’t be able to see these folders as they are hidden. You can easily see hidden folders by going to File Explorer, clicking the View tab and checking the Hidden Items box.
Navigate to both locations, and in one of them you should see a folder with all the links shown on the All Apps screen.
You can do one of two things here. You can delete the entire folder, and then nothing will be displayed on the All Applications screen, or you can go into the folder and delete unnecessary unnecessary things and leave the main program file.
As you can see, I’ve removed other shortcuts that I don’t need. Now, when I go to the start screen, I can immediately see that there is now only one item instead of 5!
Nicely! The screen of all applications looks much cleaner. But wait, we can make it even better! Let’s say you only want to open this program from the desktop and don’t want it to appear on the All Apps screen. Is there a way to show the program shortcut only on the desktop and not on the All Apps screen? Yes!
To do this, first go to the folder and copy the shortcut of the program file or any other shortcut to the desktop. I copied the shortcut of the main file to my desktop like below:
After you have copied the shortcut to your desktop, delete the folder in the Applications folder. Note that these are all shortcuts, so the files are not actually deleted. After that, you need to restart Windows 8. I don’t know why, but you won’t see any changes on the All Apps screen until you restart.
I now have a shortcut to my program on my desktop, and no unnecessary additional links and shortcuts on my All Apps screen.
This is how you can keep your Windows 8 system clean! You might think Microsoft would make the All Apps screen a little more customizable, but unfortunately it’s a bit clunky. Enjoy!
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